History of Medicine

The Department of History and Philosophy of Science is a major centre for research, teaching and public engagement in history of medicine.

The distinctive feature of our programme is that medical historians work in the largest and most distinguished department of history and philosophy of science in the UK. So students and researchers can both focus on history of medicine and take advantage of intellectual exchange with historians of physical sciences, sociologists and philosophers of science, staff in the Whipple Museum and bioethicists.

Expertise in medical history covers an exceptionally wide range, from antiquity to the present day. We have special strength in the area of Generation to Reproduction and participate in the University-wide Strategic Research Initiative on Reproduction.

History lessonsYou may be tiring of coronavirus news, but seeking deeper understanding. Time for history of medicine. Two pieces by members of the Department have just come out.

Social History of MedicineThe new issue of Social History of Medicine contains contributions from Richard McKay and Salim Al-Gailani.

How Collections EndThe 2019 issue of BJHS Themes is 'How Collections End: Objects, Meaning and Loss in Laboratories and Museums', edited by Boris Jardine, Emma Kowal and Jenny Bangham. There are several articles on biological and medical topics, including by Helen Curry and Nick Hopwood.

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Main image: Plaster model of a human head, 19th century. This model, which can be taken apart, would have been a less gruesome, and cheaper, alternative to human dissection for medical students and teachers. (T50)Image credit: Whipple Museum of the History of Science, University of Cambridge